Today in Islamophobia: In the United Kingdom, six people have been arrested after thousands of Tommy Robinson supporters marched in central London on Saturday, meanwhile in the United States, critics warn that a new executive order from Donald Trump’s administration purporting to “combat antisemitism”, could chill political speech on campuses, and lastly, the Guardian’s latest podcast episode explores the background of Alice Weidel, the far-right German leader of the AfD, a party known for its anti-immigrant and anti-Muslim platform. Our recommended read of the day is by Jummanah for Muslim Girl on how Senator Cory Booker and Representatives Ilhan Omar and Representative Jan Schakowsky have reintroduced the Combating International Islamophobia Act. This and more below:
United States
EXCLUSIVE: Congress Is Finally Reintroducing a Bill to Fight Islamophobia in 2025 | Recommended Read
Islamophobia isn’t just some abstract issue happening “somewhere else”—it’s real, it’s global, and it’s affecting Muslim communities everywhere. Muslim Girl exclusively reports that Senator Cory Booker, Representative Ilhan Omar, and Representative Jan Schakowsky just reintroduced the Combating International Islamophobia Act. After stalling in the Senate since the 117th Congress, the bill is back on the table, which would establish a Special Envoy for Monitoring and Combating Islamophobia within the U.S. State Department. “Islamophobia is not just a problem overseas—it is on the rise here at home,” said Rep. Omar. “We cannot turn a blind eye while Muslim communities face targeted violence and systemic discrimination worldwide.” This might be the first time that we have seen a real concerted effort in the legislature to pass protections for American Muslims. Rep. Schakowsky emphasizes that the hope is to address the escalating magnitude of anti-Muslim violence. “Anti-Muslim bigotry is on the rise in the U.S., and around the world, and we have a duty to stop it once and for all.” read the complete article
Sec. Kristi Noem: ‘Not the plan’ to house migrants at Guantanamo Bay indefinitely
In an exclusive interview with Meet the Press, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem details how the Trump administration plans to utilize Guantanamo Bay as a temporary detention facility for deported migrants. read the complete article
Homeland security chief declines to say whether women, children to be held at Guantánamo
The head of the US Department of Homeland Security on Sunday declined to say whether migrant women, children or families would be included in Trump administration expansion plans for the infamous Guantánamo Bay detention center, saying instead the federal government would utilize all available facilities under the law. Donald Trump last week said he was expanding a detention facility at the US naval base in Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, to hold 30,000 people. His White House border czar, Tom Homan, has said he hopes to start moving migrants there within 30 days. Asked repeatedly on NBC News whether women, children and families would be among those held at the detention center, homeland security secretary Kristi Noem declined to directly answer. “We’re going to use the facilities that we have,” she told NBC’s Meet the Press program. “We have other detention facilities, other places in the country. So, we will utilize what we have according to what’s appropriate for the individuals.” In separate Sunday interviews, Noem and Homan both reiterated that the administration was targeting “the worst of the worst” with its sweeps to detain people who are in the United States illegally, noting that a recent enforcement action in New York City focused on individuals with criminal arrest warrants. read the complete article
Trump threat to deport pro-Palestinian students mirrors rightwing Heritage blueprint
Critics warn that a new executive order from Donald Trump’s administration purporting to “combat antisemitism”, and a corresponding fact sheet suggesting deporting international students who protest Israel, could chill political speech on campuses. The fact sheet released before Trump signed the order on Wednesday quoted the president as saying: “To all the resident aliens who joined in the pro-jihadist protests, we put you on notice: come 2025, we will find you, and we will deport you. I will also quickly cancel the student visas of all Hamas sympathizers on college campuses, which have been infested with radicalism like never before.” Although the executive order itself does not call directly for deportations, the idea of cracking down on student protesters involved with pro-Palestine efforts became a Trump 2024 campaign promise and a prominent talking point on the right in the US. Republicans have broadly sought to portray protests against Israel’s offensive in Gaza as expressions of support for Hamas, and have called to punish universities that don’t quash them. The approach dovetails closely with Project Esther, a rightwing blueprint to target the pro-Palestinian movement, along with other calls from the right. read the complete article
United Kingdom
Is Elon Musk aiding a British right-wing extremist?
The British government is intentionally "replacing the British nation with hostile, violent, aggressive migrants" who will vote for them, according to right-wing extremist Tommy Robinson, who also believes that Islam is "a mental health issue rather than a religion of peace." Robinson, whose real name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, has been in a British jail cell since October for contempt of court as well as spreading false claims about an underage Syrian refugee in a video titled, "Silenced." He was also convicted of several prior crimes, including assault and fraud. He was formerly a member of the British National Party, a fascist UK political party; as well as the leader of the far-right, anti-Islamist, English Defense League. But Elon Musk, the world's richest man and US President Donald Trump's biggest supporter, regularly uses his account on his social media platform X as a soapbox to call for Robinson's release from prison, ostensibly in the name of free speech. Robinson, Musk has said, is behind bars for telling the "truth." According to British media outlets, Musk is also helping Robinson financially. He has helped elevate Robinson's profile by restoring his Twitter account — which had been blocked by the company in 2018 — after he bought the platform in October 2022. Now Robinson, who has more than 1 million followers, can once again spread his message. Imran Ahmed of the Center for Countering Digital Hate, a nongovernmental organization, said the X owner is intentionally spreading misinformation, giving extremist voices a platform to garner more clicks and thus increase his profits. Musk, as Ahmed told DW, has transformed X into a platform that accelerates the spread of hate and disinformation in British society. read the complete article
Police arrest six people as Tommy Robinson supporters enter counter-demo area at London protest
Six people have been arrested after thousands of Tommy Robinson supporters marched in central London on Saturday, with some caught entering a counter-demo area, said the Met Police. Hundreds of police officers were deployed in response to the protest, organised under the name “Stop the Isolation” or “Unite the Kingdom” in support of Robinson, as well as a separate counter-demonstration. Chants of “We want our country back” and “We want Tommy out” were sung as the demonstration set off from outside Waterloo station before marching towards Westminster and assembling at the Parliament Square end of Whitehall. The counter-protest organised by Stand Up To Racism also marched to Whitehall to stand “together against racism, Islamophobia and antisemitism and to say that we won’t let the far right divide us”. Robinson, whose real name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, was sentenced to 18 months in prison in October after the solicitor general took legal action against him for breaching a High Court injunction made in 2021. He admitted 10 breaches of the order, which barred him from repeating libellous allegations against a Syrian refugee. read the complete article
Hijab: 'It's our choice and our identity'
For Shreen Mahmood, widening the discussion on wearing the hijab cannot come soon enough, after she faced discrimination and hatred for doing so. "Someone commented on one of my social media posts, saying I should be suffocated with my hijab, this really shocked me and upset my daughters," she said. Ms Mahmood is now using her experiences to launch a new podcast, Hijabi Roundtable, with the aim of creating a space for discussion, support, and education. She said the project was long overdue, despite the growing online conversations about identity and the choice to wear the religious item. Ms Mahmood said the podcast was necessary and a safe space for women to open up about the challenges they face by wearing a hijab which include discrimination and misconceptions. It comes as campaigners mark World Hijab Day, external on Saturday, to promote acceptance of the religious headwear. read the complete article
Germany
Alice Weidel: the far-right banker Elon Musk wants as German chancellor - podcast
Alice Weidel is a politician of contradictions: a German nationalist who lives in Switzerland; a former investment banker who rails against elites; and a lesbian with two adopted sons, leading a party that defines a family as “father, mother and children”. Yet as our Berlin correspondent, Kate Connolly, explains, despite Weidel’s background – or perhaps because of it – she has risen to the top of Germany’s far-right Alternative für Deutschland (AfD), picked to be its candidate for chancellor in federal elections on 23 February. As Helen Pidd hears, in many ways Weidel has become the “respectable face” of the AfD, a party that has been dogged by its links to neo-Nazis, allowing it to project a cleaner image to voters across Germany, despite its radical anti-migrant, anti-Muslim platform. It is a stance that has led to the AfD becoming evermore successful in elections in recent years, with Weidel endorsed live at her campaign launch by the tech billionaire Elon Musk. And though Weidel is unlikely to become chancellor after the elections – given the refusal of other parties to form a coalition with the AfD – she might still have the influence to push German politics further to the right, and has eyes on gaining power next time around, in five years’ time. read the complete article